3DS cracks five million unit sales in Japan, sets new retail record

Nintendo's newest handheld breaks DS's old record

Any lingering doubts of 3DS's comeback were set to rest this weekend. Today, Nintendo reported the (nearly) year-old handheld sold its five millionth unit in Japan on Sunday, becoming the fastest piece of video game hardware to do so in country's history.

According to the retail analysts at Media Create (via Andriasang), Nintendo hit the five million mark in just 52 weeks after its launch, beating the DS, which did the same in 56 weeks; and outpacing the Game Boy Advance, which once held the record with 58 weeks. Nintendo even released a handy chart to illustrate its latest success:

News of the 3DS's milestone comes weeks after Nintendo reported it had surpassed the 4 million mark in North America last December. No doubt, Nintendo's decision to slash the price of the 3DS mere months after its launch is a contributing factor to its ongoing success, along with huge games like Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land. However, it's likely this very same price cut also played a contributing factor in the Big N's most recent 2011 fiscal report, which indicated the company's first ever annual losses.

What do you make of the latest numbers? Are they a result of a strong system or savvy marketing?